16 Years Till Summer is a painfully seductive portrayal of a person returning to his village after spending 16 years in prison and his attempts to re-build a normal life. Set in the healing and beautiful landscape of the Scottish Highlands, the film inevitably explores the theme of redemption but the director’s main focus is on the trusting relationships Uisdean builds with his father and lover; both of whom are inspired by the ‘new start’ he promises to share with them. The story becomes both engaging and complex, tragic and thrilling. As Uisdean attempts to escape the tragic events of his past and reinvent himself with the help of those that love and need him, we are taken on an unexpected journey that turns initial assumptions upside down. Using cinematic techniques to deliberately blur the line between the fairy-tale of the heart and the rational judgement of society, 16 Years Till Summer is a hybrid of heart and head, magic-realism and documented tragedy.

Emile Noel, Celestine, Shadreck, Nitanga, Dinaka, Merci and Tumukunde are boys and girls ran away from the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, arrived in Zambia without parents, in search of refuge, eager to start a new life. “A better place” tells the difficult daily reality experienced in Zambia and the hopes cultivated for a different future, in spite of everything.

Dario, Charlie, Donatella, Claudio, Pino and the others are getting ready for a new show that will be staged at the Stabile Theatre in Trieste. They assert to be mad. On the other hand, if they are actors today is thanks to Franco Basaglia and to the revolution that found its epicentre in San Giovanni in Trieste in the 70’s. This is a film that wanted to be about the Academy of Madness, but which joyfully ends up being a film with the Academy of Madness.

In the midst of the Belgian forest, Eurovillage – a former holiday resort – has been converted in 2011 in a reception center for asylum seekers. Isolated in this remote place for an unspecified period of time, the residents are waiting for a stressful answer: will they be allowed to stay in Belgium or not? How do they live through this long and strange “journey”, disconnected from real life, suspended between their past and an uncertain future?

Young street vendor Soe Ko lives in a small village on the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. He’s in love with Saing Ko, a quiet mason from another village, and dreams of a wedding with all the trimmings. But Myanmar is governed by a military regime and marriage between two men is strictly forbidden. Homosexuality isn’t accepted and many homosexuals suffer stigmatization and discrimination. In this little community, however, there is an exceptional, small circle that does welcome homosexuals. A human rights activist, a schoolteacher, a shaman and a beautician decide to make a marriage between the two young lovers a reality. The film follows and observes them closely during the preparations for the wedding. Even though everything has to be done in secret, they receive help from all sides. Housewives from the village prepare a wedding meal and Buddhist monks perform the official ceremony. The wedding cumulates in an exuberant celebration that shows that love refuses to be oppressed.

This year, things get tough. This year the Afro-Napoli United has passed to the higher national youth football league. It is almost a dream to many foreign players from Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Senegal and Brazil without a resident permit. Every Saturday, their stubborn coach Antonio phones them one by one to summon them for the match. Each of the players has an intriguing story. Maxim fled from a country at war, Ivory Coast, where he was a promise as a football player. Adam dropped out of school, and plays as goalkeeper and part-time acrobatic bartender. Lello has a son living abroad. He is stateless. He wants to have a better chance., but Italian laws on immigration are as restrictive as tangled in a jungle of “beaurecrazyness”. Throughout all these diffiulties, Antonio fights his way to keep the team together. “Afro Napoli United” tells a personal, emotional story of social integration that goes far beyond migrants’ rights.

After a serie of crimes against Afro-American people in many American cities, particularly the sad event of Michael brown’s death which happened in Ferguson, the world noticed that a new generation of activists emerged. With unexpected new means of communication, they both succeeded in informing and mobilizing the international opinion of police violence against black people. Beyond the shock and the turmoil felt by the Black community, how does this population deal with this situation on a daily basis? Are we witnessing a new form of Apartheid? Who are these young activists who saw a black man acceding to the White House whilst they still hardly had the right to vote? Coming from popular circles, or being religious leaders or simple students, they come within the scope of their elders (Martin Luther King or Rosa Park) even if they do claim their independence from the historical civil right movements. This is a bitter assessment for them to realize that their country is not done with racism.

Like millions of young girls throughout the world, Heba must marry a man that she has not chosen. A drama of tragic proportions is being played out in a recluse village by the Nile Delta. Filmed in 2013 while Egypt was led by the Muslim Brotherhood, this film is a direct and wrenching descent into a personal tragedy experienced by so many young women today. Taking a stripped-down approach that proves to be both discreet and omniscient, both thoughtful and spontaneous, the film reveals the deep confusion of an Egypt in crisis.

Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, both lived through and wrote about the open wounds of modern times. Today, Arendt evokes renewed interest as her insights into the nature of evil, the plight of refugees and totalitarian ideologies sound more relevant than ever.

In a little Christian Arab hair salon in Haifa, Israel, the director installs a camera over the washing basin. As she washes their hair, she converses candidly with the salon’s clients, who are Arab and Jewish, on topics ranging from politics to love. What emerges from these conversations is an honest and nuanced portrayal of contemporary Israel.